Device for picking up broken jack lines



ay 1938- G. w. COPE DEVICE FOR PICKING UP BROKEN JACK LINES Fi led Sept. 5, 1934 7 George 2 $36k s5 82 H ATTORNEY Patented 'May 31 1938 DEVICE FOR PICKING UP BROKEN JACK LINES George W. Cope, Vivian, La.

Application September 5, 1934, Serial No. 742,867

Claims.

This. invention relates to improvements in jack or rod line retrievers and its objects are as follows:-

First, to simplify the known means for re- 5 trieving or picking up a broken jack line after having made the repair.

Second, to provide a set of links used in making up a pull chain between the pull-rod of a power and the red line of a jack by combining in said chain a set of links each of which has a pull and anchor connection on the power end relatively placed practically the same as the pull and anchor connection on the rod line terminal, there also being an anchor designed and placed to connect with the rod line terminal in the lowermost or second link in the uppermost part of the stroke of the eccentric.

Third, to improve the foregoing links used in making up a pull chain between the pull rod of the power and the rod line of the jack by combining in said chain a set of heavy links and a set of relatively light links, the heavy links com ing' last in the process of removal for the reason that the weight to be held increases as the end of the picking up operation is approached, at which time there should be only heavy links in the chain.

Fourth, to provide a so-called tapering chain, that is to say a chain with heavy links in one part and relatively light links in another part, the hooks and eyes of the heavy links being of a special form so that they can. be interfitted only in accordance with an originally determined plan and only in a given position in the chain.

Fifth, to improve the hook-off so as to make it operative with said combination of pull and hookoil chain, said hook-off being rigid in itself so as to release automatically.

In the drawing:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating a number of the improved links connected with each other to form a pick-up chain between the pullrod of the power and the rod line to the jack, in

i which line a broken rod is presumed to have been replaced.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the improved hook-off used in conjunction with the foregoing chain.

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the exi tension loop of the hook-off.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the C link.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of the heavy hook section of the chain.

Figure 6 is a detail side'elevation illustrating operate a number of pump jacks from a central power, which in some cases includes one or more eccentrics and in other cases other contrivances for producing reciprocatory motion of the rod 15 lines which may connect between the power and pump jacks. These rod lines are made up of pull rods which are coupled together. Sometimes a rod will break, thus letting the jack drop or, perhaps more properly, letting the plunger drop to the bottom of the pump barrel in the well.

When such a breakage occurs and a new rod is substituted for the broken one the end of the rod line is generally about 4' from the end of the power pull line, and then it is the problem of the 25 pumper to reconnect the rod line to the power pull line. This, of itself is a laborious performance and there are a number of contrivances intended to make the work as easy as possible for the operator. 30

The means in frequent use at present for picking up broken jack lines consists of chain links made in a variety of designs. These are still used quite freely despite the other contrivances which are intended to simplify the work. 35 At most powers one can generally find from a dozen to twenty of the foregoing links anywhere from 4 to 18" long. The principle of their use is to connect them together in chain form between the power pull-rod and the rod line pull hook, 40 and as the power makes its successive strokes the rod line off-hook is caught by the hook-off, extended by a number of links and the links are discarded one by one as the slack occurs.

The set up on which the invention is predicated enables the pumper to virtually stand in one place to discard links from the chain with a minimum of possibility of danger to himself because the combination pull and off-hook chain is always I held tightly, and the hooks release'automatically 50 which is not the case in connections that hinge. The links are standardized to a degree so that a pumper does not need to have such a wide assortment of lengths as indicated above. Moreover, if the operator prefers the links are made of heavy and light material so that they will fit together in a predetermined way, making it impossible to insert a heavy link in the light linksection and vice versa.

Known structure comprises the power I which is here shown of the type having a single eccentrio 2 to which the eccentric strap 3 is applied in the known manner. This strap has a plurality of coupling places 4 (only one being designated) whereat to apply the connection 5 for the power pull-rod 6. This pull rod is guided by a post 1 during its reciprocation by the eccentric. power is firmly mounted on a foundation 8, often made of concrete.

The member designated 9 is only one rod of a plurality of such rods which constitute part of a rod line leading to a known type of pumping jack. Rods such as 9 have enlarged ends which are joined by couplings. One of those enlarged ends is designated I0, and in this instance aids in making connection with a clamp l I which, in turn, makes connection with an off-hook 12 which constitutes the rod line terminal. The power pull-rod 3 is equipped with a clamp 13 which constitutes the pull-rod terminal, similar to H, and it is between the hook I2 and clamp i3 that the improved oif-hook chain 14 is interfitted in carrying out the operation of lifting the pump jack after a repair has been made in the rod line 9. The hook or rod line l2 has a pull hook and anchor connection respectively above and below as shown in Fig. 1.

Preferably there are heavy and light link sections in the chain I4. The heavy section comprises links I5 which go next to the rod line. The light section comprises links it which go between the heavy section and the power. The links 15 have eyes l1, l8 and H! which, reading from right to left (Figs. 1 and 5) are perfectly round, oval and elongated. These links also have pull hooks 23, 2|, 22 which, reading from right to left are of oval, elongated and normal cross section (Fig. 7) so as to interfit only as permitted by the foregoing special shapes. Said links also have anchor hooks 23.

The pull and anchor hooks branch out from opposite sides of the links 15 but occur in the same plane. The eyes ll, 18 and I9 are in planes at right angles (or substantially so) to the other hooks. This makes it easy to interfit the eyes to the pull hooks. The same principle obtains in the light section comprising the links l5. These, for the purpose of distinction have pull hooks 24 and anchor hooks 25.

In practice the links 16 will be made out of to 1 stock. The links l5 will be made out of somewhat heavier stock. The light links are connected in the power end of the chain and the heavy links are connected in the rod line end. In practice only a few of the light links will be used, perhaps two or three as illustrated. These links are discarded one by one before the greater weight is imposed on the chain. When that time arrives the heavy link section will be in position between the off-hook l2 and clamp 13, and the purpose of the special eye and pull hook construction of the heavy section is to prevent intermingling the light link with the heavy link sections.

A second element of the invention comprises the hook-off or anchor 23 (Fig. 2). This comprises an anchor rod 21 having an eye 28 at one end and a loop 29 at the other. The eye 28 is connected with an eye bolt 30 which is set in the foundation 8. The loop 29 may be made long The enough to loop two off-hooks when used singly in hooking off the links of the chain 14, but in some instances an extension link or loop 3| will be used.

This extension link is part of a rod 32 which is provided with a hook shoulder 33 at its place of connection with the loop 3|. The latter is insertible in the loop 29 and then turned so that the shoulder 33 takes the position shown.

The rod 32 goes back and tapers at 34 where it contacts the anchor rod 2'1. The rod 21 is bent between the points 33, 34 (Fig. 3) as indicated at 35, providing a clearance place for admitting the first anchor hook of the chain as plainly designated in Figure 1. The bend further insures a tight fit when the C-link 35 is applied sidewise and slid forwardly.

A third feature of the invention consists of making the extension link 3! plural-pronged by adding a hook 33 a short distance from the hook point 33. Both the hook and hook point occur on the hook-off 26, the equivalent of the hookoff in Figure l. The purpose of the hook 33 is that of an extra adjustment for the anchor rod 27, and it works in this way:

Suppose the rod line to be anchored to the loop 3| as shown in Figure 6, but for some reason the loop of the clamp 13 which constitutes the pull-rod terminal will not reach the first hook 24. There would then be a space between the end of the loop and the hook 24. A short link (not shown) will be connected between the loop and the first hook so as to hold the rod line and while the latter is held the hook-off 26 is disconnected and its hook 33 connected with the loop 29. The next stroke of the power will enable catching the anchor hook 25 of the first link. The anchor rod is shortened, in effect, an extent equal to the distance between 33 and 33 The foregoing short link can be taken out, and the loop of I3 connected to the successive hooks 24, etc.

Figure 8 is to be considered as comprising a chain I4 in which all of the links are made of 1%" stock. The two links H3 shown are a part of a chain such as shown in Figure 1, only are made of heavier stock at the power end. The anchor rod 2'! has a loop 29" as before, but this loop is much longer than the loop in Figure 1. It is approximately 14" long so as to enable catching the second anchor hook 25 in the manner shown. When this anchor hook is caught the first link 16 is easily removed when the eccentric reaches the proper position in its cycle of movement.

In Figure 9 the link I6 is provided with eyes 39, 39 defined in part by a cross bar 49. This link has a shank 4| which terminates in a pull hook 24 as in the other forms. The special purpose of the eye 39 is to take the hook 24 of the next link. The eye 39 takes the hook 42 of the anchor rod 2'! as shown. The eye 39 is, therefore, a substitute for the hooks 23, 25

(Fig. 1).

The operation is readily understood. In the normal operation the hook [2 (Fig. 1) is connected with the clamp I3. As the eccentric 2 rotates on the axis of the power the resulting reciprocations of the pullrod 6 are imparted to the rod line 9 and from there onto the pump jack which usually is situated a considerable distance away.

Upon breakage of one of the members of the line 3 the adjacent couplings (not shown) must be released and a new rod put in place, but before the repair can be made the hook l2 must be disconnected from the clamp l3 because the pump plunger fell to the bottom of the working barrel when the release came and it is necessary to disconnect at l2, 13 in order to enable the work to be done on the rod line.

After making the repair the problem is to connect the hook l2 to the clamp l3, and that is done by hooking up the chain I 4 as shown. Each stroke'of the power will bring the hook 12 one link closer to the clamp, the principle being to either connect an anchor hook with the extension loop 3| (as in case when that loop is used in conjunction with the comparatively short anchor loop 29) or with the long loop 29 as in Figure 8. The actual operation depends on the nature of the set up.

Assuming that the extension loop 3| had to be used in Figures 1 and 6, the hook-off 26 is lifted off of the ground to the dotted line position (Fig. 1), and when the anchor hook of the next adjacent link l6 comes within reach it is caught by the loop 3| at the top of the stroke of the eccentric to enable releasing the first link. The terms top and bottom as applied to the cocentric have reference to the position of the plunger in the well.

When the eccentric goes to the bottom of the stroke there will be a slack in the chain to enable the removal of the first link, and by repeating the process, waiting each time for the eccentric to reach the bottom of its stroke, all of the links will eventually be discarded until a final hook-up is effected between the hook l2 and the clamp l3. Normal operation is then resumed.

It is repeated that the heavy chain section is intended to bear the burden of lifting the jack toward the last. The light links are discarded in the first part of the operation before the burden becomes very great. All of the links might be made of the same weight of material, but from a manufacturing standpoint it is deemed that the graduated type of chain is best. The terms graduated and tapering are used synonymously to mean that the chain is of one size or weight at one end and of a different size or weight at the other.

I claim:-

1. Means for connecting the terminal of a rod line with the clamp of a reciprocable power pull rod, said means comprising a chain made up of heavy and relatively lighter links, means in the formation of the heavy links to prevent intermingling with the lighter links, and means for progressively holding the successive links while disconnecting used links from the chain.

2. Means for connecting the terminal of a rod line with the clamp of a reciprocable power pullrod, said means comprising a chain made up of heavy and relatively lighter links, all of the links having anchor hooks, pull hooks and eyes interconnected with the pull hooks, the pull hooks and eyes of the heavy links being dissimilarly formed to prevent intermingling the lighter links with the relatively heavy links, and means to successively anchor the links while removing the used links from the chain.

3. Means for disconnecting a chain of connected links from between the confronting terminals of a power and a rod line, each link having an anchor hook, said means consisting of a hook-off to successively catch the anchor hooks, said hook-off comprising an anchor rod and means for anchoring it, a loop on said rod, an extension loop and means for hooking it onto the foregoing loop, a rod which is part of the extension loop, and means to clamp said rod onto the anchor rod.

4. The combination of a power having a pullrod with a terminal pull connection, a rod line having a terminal with pull and anchor connections, a chain made up of connected links temporarily joining said pull-rod terminal with the pull terminal of said rod line, the pull terminal of each of said links being substantially the form of said rod line terminal, anchor means situated adjacent to the power, an extension loop having means by which it is rigidly connected to the anchor means, said loop being usable for attachment to successively second links of the chain at the power end, enabling discarding the intermediate first link from the chain and connecting said anchor means with said second links until the rod line pull connection is finally hooked up to said pull-rod.

5. In combination with a reciprocating power pull-rod having a pull terminal and a rod line having a terminal directed toward said power pull rod, an anchor located adjacently to the pull terminal, said rod line terminal having connecting means adapted to be connected with the pull terminal and with said anchor, a pick-up chain joined between said connecting means and the pull terminal, said chain consisting of links each of which includes an anchor hook, and means for elongating said anchor to catch successive links of the chain, said means consisting of an extension loop provided with means for hooking-and clamping it to said anchor, said extension loop being used to connect with successive anchor hooks when putting pick-up links into or taking pick-up links from thechain.

GEO. W. COPE. 

